The complaint was filed in October 2010 after the Dominican
Republic imposed duties of as much as 38 percent on imports of
the sacks, used to pack foods and agro-industrial and industrial
products, as a temporary step to protect its producers. Such
“safeguard measures” are permitted when imports of a product
damage or threaten to harm a specific domestic industry.

WTO judges in Geneva today agreed with the complaining
countries that the safeguard wasn’t justified because the
Dominican Republic failed to prove its domestic industry had
been damaged.